The Canadian beach volleyball pair of Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson secured a spot in the semifinals of the Montreal Elite16 tournament by defeating Latvia’s Tina Graudina and Anastasija Kravcenoka with a score of 22-20, 21-18 in the quarterfinals on Saturday. Demonstrating superior blocking and digging skills, the Canadians outperformed their opponents. They are set to face Thamela Galil and Victoria Tosta of Brazil in the upcoming semifinal match. Galil and Tosta advanced after triumphing over the American duo of Julia Donlin and Lexy Denaburg with a score of 21-17, 13-21, 18-16.
The dynamic duo of Humana-Paredes and Wilkerson, who clinched the titles in 2023 and 2025 alongside winning an Olympic silver, are optimistic about their chances. Humana-Paredes mentioned their strategy of reviewing past matches against the Brazilian team to capitalize on their strengths and areas for improvement. The pair previously defeated Galil and Tosta during pool play.
In a separate development on Saturday, the Ontario duo of Sam Schachter and Jonathan Pickett caused a major upset by advancing to the men’s semifinals in the FIVB Beach Pro Tournament. The 39th-ranked Canadian team overcame the world’s top-ranked players, Jacob Hölting Nilsson and Elmer Andersson, with a 2-0 victory (21-19, 21-17) in the quarterfinals held at Parc Jean-Drapeau. Schachter and Pickett, hailing from Ontario, also eliminated Austria’s Alexander Horst and Paul Pascariuc earlier in the day.
Reflecting on their victory against the top-ranked opponents, Schachter attributed their success to consistent and solid performance, rather than relying on flashy plays. The pair is now gearing up to face Brazil’s Renato Andrew Lima de Carvalho and Andre Stein in the upcoming semifinal match scheduled for Sunday morning.
